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All alliteration aside (see what I did there?), two RunTuff athletes performed very well on May 5th at two different 10-mile races. Ruth Shields went to Syracuse to run the notoriously challenging and hilly Mountain Goat 10-miler, and smashed her goal of 90 minutes by running a superb 1:27:22! Ruth continues to impress me with her toughness and great attitude. Next up for her are the three upcoming Rochester Runner of the Year races in Read more…

Over the past few years, I have tried various strength routines in an attempt to not only get stronger, but to become more injury-proof as well. I even have a strength training for distance runners plan that I have used in the past. But I find myself doing that less and less these days, and trying other plans. Brad Stuhlberg’s Minimalist Strength Workout seems to be the best one so far. Now, pundits will claim Read more…

Welcome back to Ann Lynn, who is once again going to be training for a marathon; this time she is targeting the Steamtown Marathon in October. Her last marathon, Chicago in 2016, was a terrific success as she smashed her previous PR of 5:01 with a 4:18:51. She will aiming for a 3:45 at Steamtown. Let’s do this!!

A few weeks ago, right after the Running of the Green 5-miler, I pulled an abdominal/groin muscle and had to take a few weeks easy. I saw a sports medicine doctor who confirmed that I strained my abdominal and hip flexor muscles. At that point, the pain was nearly all gone and I had resumed doing some harder workouts. Sometime since then, however, I seem to have pulled it again. It’s not as bad as Read more…

Back in my younger, even dumber days, I dreaded skipping a run. Even after a hard workout or long run, I would typically log at least 6 miles, just to tick off the fact that I ran that day. If I did somehow skip a day, I would always feel awful the next day; like I hadn’t run in months. So it was very rare for me to take a true rest day, and I Read more…

On Tuesday, I did a quick and easy track workout. Before starting, I did some drills on the track, including A-skips, B-skips, and carioca. While doing the carioca, I felt a small twinge in my groin, but thought nothing of it, and completed the workout with no issues. Then, on Wednesday morning, I sneezed, and felt something pull, only this time it hurt. I was able to run 7 miles that morning, but was hurting Read more…

Saturday was the Running of the Green, a 5-mile road race that unofficially marks the start of the racing season in Western New York. This was the first year that Johnny’s Irish Pub has not been the primary sponsor, and I found it very difficult not to call the race “Johnny’s,” as that is how almost everyone refers to it. Rochester Running Company took over the race, with the YMCA joining as the main sponsor, Read more…

I have not raced since the last Pete Glavin Cross Country race back in November. That race turned out to be around 4.5 miles over a rolling course covered in several inches of thick, chunky snow. Needless to say, it was not conducive to running fast. Since then, my training has been spotty, to put it mildly. With no real goals in mind, I have not had the motivation to run more than a few Read more…

Until recently, RunTuff was the personal website of Steve Perks, who allowed me to usurp it for my coaching services at the suggestion of Josh Perks. I am very thankful for this, as I did not have to worry about coming up with a clever name or going through all the trouble of getting a website up and running. A few weeks ago, Josh re-organized his websites and handed over RunTuff.com to me after archiving Read more…

In the past, I would spend countless hours agonizing over my training plans, trying to build the perfect structure to guide my fitness up and away to the outermost limits of my potential. I would meticulously plan a progression of workouts designed to gradually increase the workload, always with the intent of running a personal best at the end of the season. It was challenging, but I also enjoyed the satisfaction of creating what I Read more…